Annabelle Pike and the Brooks Library (1900’s)
It was in 1882 the Brattleboro Public Library opened on Main Street. The library was located in a room in the Town Hall and was open three days a week for 8 hours a day. A large selection of books, and the knowledge found in their pages, was now available to just about everyone. There...Continue reading→
A Main Street Walking Tour Of Architectural And Historic Sites
The Brattleboro Historical Society created the Main Street Walking Tour of Architectural and Historic Sites as a download and printable map that you can use to explore Downtown Brattleboro. Download the PDF
A History of Brattleboro’s Libraries 1842 to Present
Since 1842 Brattleboro readers have been privileged to borrow books: first, from its early Brattleboro Library Association and 40 years later, when the shareholders offered the books to the town from the Brattleboro Free Library. The free library moved in 1887 from its quarters in the lower Town Hall to the George J. Brooks Library.Continue reading→
Williams Street then and now.
Williams Street then and now during the construction of Interstate 91.
McNeill’s Brewery
BHS believes the building that became McNeill’s was constructed in 1892 and originally served as one of the fire stations on Elliot Street. The 1892 structure was a replacement for the fire station that had been there previously. McNeill’s moved into the building in 1990 and began brewing beer in January 1991. Ray McNeill Ray...Continue reading→
Hinsdale Bridge History – Eight and Counting…
Saturday, March 28, 1920 the Hinsdale Bridge between Brattleboro and Island Park collapsed into the Connecticut River. The winter had produced a great deal of snow, a warm spell caused a quick melt, and eight to ten inches of ice were still on the river. The Brattleboro Daily Reformer gave the following description of what...Continue reading→
Development and Indigenous Burials
In 1922 the business community was pretty excited. Companies along Vernon Road were having a great deal of success. The White River Chair Company, Crosby Milling and Fort Dummer Cotton Mill had all settled into the southeast corner of town and caused a housing boom. Adding to the excitement was the announcement that Presbrey-Leland of...Continue reading→
Brooks House
In November 1869 the St. Albans Weekly Messenger reported on the status of Brattleboro, a town that was about as far away from St. Albans as you could get and still be in Vermont. The paper was commenting on Brattleboro’s recent hard times. In October, a Whetstone Brook freshet had wiped out many of the...Continue reading→
Wesselhoeft Water Cure
Dr. Wesselhoeft In the 1840’s one in five children born alive did not live to see their 1st birthday. The average life expectancy was less than 40 years. Many doctors bled their patients when they didn’t feel well and prescribed medicines that contained mercury and other poisonous metals. About half of the patients who had...Continue reading→
Harris Hill
In the beginning, the hill was 740 feet long. The landing space was 250 feet with a drop from the top to bottom of 284 feet. It was a big hill and it would get bigger.Continue reading→
Madame Sherri’s Castle Ruins
Across the river from north Brattleboro, in West Chesterfield, New Hampshire, a trail winds through the Madame Sherri Forest to a set of ghostly stone stairs—the ruins of Madame Sherri’s castle, an estate whose former glory was lost to fire in 1962.Continue reading→
The Brattleboro Retreat
Go north on Main Street through downtown Brattleboro, past the library and bubbling Wells Fountain, and you’ll crest the hill onto a public park. Look through the trees and you’ll see flickers of an elegant clock tower. This clock tower watches over college-like campus of the Brattleboro Retreat, a pioneering mental health hospital that has...Continue reading→